African Elephant
![](https://nails.newsela.com/s3/newsela-media/article_media/2018/01/elem-es-african-elephant-dfbc68c5.jpg?crop=0%2C93%2C1366%2C860&height=496&width=885)
Photo: Newsela
Protected by the Endangered Species Act since 1978
African elephants are highly intelligent and social animals. They display grief, altruism, compassion and self-awareness. Elephants rely on their long-term memories, coupled with seasonal cues, to travel vast distances in close-knit herds to find water and food throughout sub-Saharan Africa.
Tragically, these elephants — Earth’s largest land mammals — are being slaughtered for their ivory tusks at rates that are causing severe population declines across the continent. Habitat loss, human-elephant conflict and political instability pose additional and significant long-term challenges to the elephants’ survival.